Upright Late Harvest (Batch 1)

Formerly brewed at Upright Brewing
Style: Sour Red/Brown
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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Name: Late Harvest
Date: September 16, 2011
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Appearance: hazy amber, fine beige head, drippy lace
Aroma: sweet aroma, fruity esters, chocolate, spices
Flavor: sweet fruity flavor, fruity barrel tartness, light spicyness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+ /4

shared by jtc-750 bottle-pours murky amber with a light tan head. Aroma is white grape, wood, medium malt. Taste is medium malt-roasty, white grape-vinuous, wood, slight vinegar.

Bottle at Volo. Pours dark with lots of lace. Signficantly tart, even sour to the person sharing the bottle. A saison only in the broadest of terms,an one of a kind. Yeasty and peppery aroma. I found the mouthfeel smooth. Not for everyone.

Bottle at the Funky 7, in Brooklyn. Batch 1, 2010. Pours amber-brown with a small, off-white head. Vinous aroma, tart and lightly spicy. Very sour flavor, lightly sweet, some herbs and malts. Medium bodied with fine carbonation. Tart finish, some sour fruits and faint earthiness. Very good, dynamic beer.

750ml bottle. browned bronze body, small off-white head. spice cabinet nose presents pumpkin and nutmeg (most likely coming from the saison yeast playing with the barley) with the woody/herbal/earthy quality of the grains of paradise present at medium strength (it’s certainly one of the few grains of paradise beers I enjoy right off the bat). medium- body, slight wateriness, but medium- to medium acidity adds a quenching character that saves it (I can see now that these upright bottles may not be fully developed at the time of release, and found that 6-9 months seems to be the sweet spot, esp. for the gose). medium dry finish, light woody spiced finish, mild to medium- peppercorn character (wouldn’t have guessed but I’m pretty suggestible). pinot character is non-existent, only the oak is noticeable. suffers from poor body structure/slow bottle conditioning, but should be there in a few more months.

My Bottom Line :
This dryish Sour Ale promotes cranberries and sour cherries on a bed of biscuity cereals, a whole slowly moving into diplomatic tartness.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A slice of foam sits atop the shiny mahogany.
-The soft but effervescent carbonation is rather pleasant.
-Citrusy fruitiness emanates from the tartness.
-This is not one of those bold Sour Ales we’ve gotten used to. It’s a beautiful introduction to these flavors, even if it’s complexity might be lacking.

Bottle.

2011-01-28. Lightly hazy dark brown body with a modest foamy tan head fades. 3+ Flavour is pleasantly fruity, lightly tannic, light acidity grows as it warms up, light woody dryness in the finish. 7+ Aroma is lightly woody, vinous fruity character. 7+ Smooth average palate is lightly carbonated and has a wine like mouthfeel. 3+ Enjoyable. Bottle at Volo, Toronto

Bottle 750 ml
Aroma soft aromatic feel, phenols, cherry pit, cask, ripe dark fruit. Refined.8-
Appearance dark brown with medium beige top. Some rings noted on my glass. 3+
Flavor and Palate : medium full bodied. Frontal sourness followed by ripe fruits, sweet sugars with side tartness. Low carbonation. Hint of vanilla on top. Good. 13+/20

August 27, 2011 - bottle shared by blankboy at Volo - thanks, Paul!!! Very dark brownish red with a solid creamy beige lasting head. Love that aroma - red wine, light dry oak, lemon, spice, floral - terrific. Taste - I think I found the sour funk - lemon and lemon drop up front, sweet turned sour and wild, some alcohol, all those element swirl around and make me drool - my gut may regret it later, but so, so good. Solid body, just light acidity, airy, yielding a dry oaky finish, with tannin bitterness in the aftertaste - yeah man!

In short: An mildly sour unsweetened cherry pie in a bottle. Fun and easy to drink beer.
How: Bottle 750ml. A few times. This rating for a 750ml bottle from the first an only batch so far, consumed approximately 7 months after it was bottled. Bottle sent to me by H1N1. Drank side-by-side with a bottle of Late Harvest Batch 2.
The look: Cloudy copper body topped by a medium beige head with medium retention leaving good lacings on the glass
In long: Nose is both sour fruity ale and very toasted so it smells like a fresh out-of-the-oven overcooked cherry pie. Taste is just that, a nice sweet and sour cherry pie. Sweet toasted pie crust, baked cherries with a mild sourness, graham cookies, some oaky vinous notes, some tannins. The oak, bugs and tannins really hide the sweetness so the beer feels like some kind of unsweetened cherry pie. The finish is moderately dry and only mildly sour. Carbonation is very smooth. Far from an intense sour ale, this is actually very easy drink, borderline sessionnable. Straightforward but very effective, I could drink this all night long. So far the more intense Late Harvest Batch 2 is getting higher ratings but I personally preferred this fun not-so-Sour Ale. I drank a full 750ml of this Late Harvest and Late Harvest Batch 2 all by myself. All alone. I felt like I was Will Smith in I Am Legend. Except I’m white, and I’m not very smart, and I don’t have a dog and there were no zombies. Basically, I’m just very lonely.